Why Copywriting Really is an Art

Why Copywriting Really is an Art

I always pay attention to is the quality of the writing of the people I am talking to!
I can never shut off my inner editor!

Words Matter

Have you ever considered the written content of a website or an email? Copywriting really is an art when you consider the burden that is placed on its shoulders because it is used as part of a marketing strategy. This will mean that it has to work in a particular way, but it also has to deliver a message that will result in people taking action?

When words are delivered in such a way, they grip the reader and they make them want to behave in the desired way – this is exactly why it is an important tool in the marketing world.

Copywriting is huge. In fact, its importance should not be underestimated because the biggest businesses in the world rely on it to work for them. When they require a creative message that they want to be delivered to their customers, they simply use a copywriter. Read More

How Blogging and Freelancing Go Hand-in-Hand

How Blogging and Freelancing Go Hand-in-Hand

How Blogging and Freelancing Go Hand-in-Hand

 

I’m pleased to present you with a guest post today from Ryan Biddulph, the nomadic dude who lives all over the world… island-hopping, traveling to new and exciting places, encountering strange people (like the guy who stole his $1 flip-flops!) and living life on his terms as a blogger, an author, and a freelance writer.

I met Ryan online when he first became an author. Ryan and I have a lot in common. We are both authors, bloggers, and freelance writers.

He, however, is a bit more famous than I am (wink wink!) because he has been featured on Forbes, Fox News, Entrepreneur, Richard Branson’s Virgin Blog, John Chows Dot Com and Neil Patel Dot Com.

Ryan has also written and self-published 126 bite-sized e-books, which he sells on Amazon! 

Some of his top-sellers include:

7 Steps to Build a Full-Time Income-Earning Blog

How to Land Guest Posts on Authority Blogs

6 Tips for Work-at-Home Entrepreneurs

10 Tips to Be a Smarter (and Richer) Blogger

How to Become a Successful Home Based Marketer

How to Build a Profitable Blog through Twitter

How to Become a Successful Freelance Writer

How to Find Your Writing Voice

How to Create and Publish a Successful eBook

7 Tips for First Time eBook Authors

10 Strategies for Increasing Blog Traffic through Automation 

6 Tips to Grow a Rabidly Loyal Blog Community

… and many more!

Be sure to check out his books later, after you read this post!

Take it away, Ryan!

Ryan Biddulph headshot

Peanut butter and jelly.

Frick and Frack.

Bert and Ernie.

We all love a good match.

Blogging and freelance writing, like the above duos, are perfect together.

When I asked my buddies if they wanted me to write a guest post for them, Lorraine was all over the opportunity like bees to honey. Or like feisty critters to the house where Kelly and I are currently living in Thailand, with centipedes, scorpions, tarantulas and foot-long Tokay geckos!

Anyway, I love the blog topic we both agreed on because Lorraine and I are freelance writers as well as bloggers. I see a few parallels between running a thriving freelance writing business and a successful blog.

Let’s dive into these parallels. Read More

20 Ways to Be a Master Writer and Improve Your Writing Skills

 20 Ways to Be a Master Writer and Improve Your Writing Skills

Becoming a master writer and improving your writing skills is something most bloggers, freelancers, and authors strive to do.

That’s why I (Lorraine) have helped my guest today improve her writing by co-writing this blog post with her. (She sent the basic draft, and I added to it.)

It’s difficult to write a stellar blog post on the first, second, or even the third try. Great writing requires revisions!

Not only that, but writing a blog post or an article that will captivate the reader is not something many people can do. In fact, many people will run to the hills when asked to write a blog post. The simple reason for this is that it is tough coming up with paragraphs of words that will make the reader sit still and want to read to the end. Authors sometimes feel the same way when beginning a new book, too.

While it’s easy to write an email or correct someone else’s work, it suddenly becomes a tumultuous task for a majority of people when they are asked to write an interesting, comprehensible piece. Here are 20 helpful tips on how you can transform your bland writing into an art of work that is a page-turner:

20 Ways to Improve Your Writing Skills

There’s no doubt about it — writing is a skill. To improve your writing skills, there are a plethora of things you can do. You can hire a writer to help you, of course (either hire me or hire someone from Custom Writings) but the best way to improve your own writing skills is to use the following 20 tips!

Here are the 20 best ways for improving your writing skills. Please use them! If you do, you’ll become a master writer in no time!

Read More

4 Phases to a Successful Online Author’s Life (+ how to become an author)

4 Phases to a Successful Online Author’s Life (+ how to become an author)

Becoming an author involves 4 phases, and if you’re a blogger, you’re already an author, of sorts…

When you publish a blog post, you are the “author” of that post. But being an author who sells e-books is a completely different story… but it doesn’t have to be.

You can be a blogger or a freelance writer who is also an author!

You don’t have to write fiction; you can write self-help books, motivational books, or anything else that suits your talents and knowledge.

Look at Ryan Biddulph, the guy behind Blogging from Paradise. He’s a blogger who turned most of his blog posts into e-books… and earns passive income from his book sales!

Look at Alicia Rades. She’s a freelance writer who is also a fiction author.

Look at me. I self-published a book of short stories (Risky Issues)… just to see if I could actually figure out the whole self-publishing process on my own. In fact, a blind man motivated me to make it available in print instead of just as an e-book.

rsz_ebook_cover_-_risky_issues_by_lorraine_reguly

After learning the steps of the self-publishing process, I then helped this blind man (Maxwell Ivey) self-publish not one but two books. Take a look at his books! One is an 11-step guide to business success. The other is an easy-to-follow guide to weight loss success.

This is the final cover for Max's ebook, Leading You Out of the Darkness Into the Light.

cover image for It's Not the Cookie, It's the Bag

Now, look at Dave Chesson. He’s a guy who became a best-selling author… by writing under pen names (pseudonyms), which, unfortunately, he won’t reveal to you here.

However, he will reveal the different stages he has gone through as both an online writer and an author… so that YOU can see where YOU are currently at… if you want to become an author too.

***Note that I can help you, as I offer author assistant services in addition to my writing and editing services!***

Take it away, Dave! Read More

17 of the Best Websites to Bring Back Your Writing Inspiration

17 of the Best Websites to Bring Back Your Writing Inspiration

Do you ever need some writing inspiration?

I bet you DO!

As bloggers, writers, and freelancers, we all need writing inspiration at some point.

Many websites exist that can help bring back your writing inspiration and your creativity.

So do many tools, including the ones found in these posts:

8 Great Writing Tools to Keep You Motivated to Write

9 Tools that No Serious Online Writer Should Be Without

Some FUN Writing Tools to Get You In the #writing Mood

Today’s guest, Rachel, will share 17 of the best websites to you to help you stay inspired and get your writing inspiration back.

Do YOU Need Some Writing Inspiration?

Do you want or need to write, but are feeling less than inspired?

I’ve been there plenty of times.

You get rid of all the distractions, tidy up your desk, focus on the job at hand and… nothing. You have writer’s block. You don’t know what to do.

The solution: check out some of these websites dedicated to writers and writing to get re-inspired.

(An alternate solution is to hire a freelance writer to help you!)

via GIPHY

1. The Story Starter

The reason why you may lose your writing inspiration is because you are writing about the same stuff over and over again, and never venturing outside your niche. The Story Starter will enable you to do that, by generating a random sentence that will become the starter for your new story. It’s an incredibly fun exercise, as it’s always able to come up with interesting story starters.

“There is always, always, always something to write about.”

― Rob Bignell, Writing Affirmations: A Collection of Positive Messages to Inspire Writers

Read More